Cons eliminate Court Challenges Program & Cut $5M from S

[lagatta]

Good news!

I just got this from the FFQ list (English follows French):

res abonnées de la liste en-Marche
 
Vendredi dernier, nous vous faisions parvenir la demande d’appui de deux associations féministes pan-canadiennes en attente de financement du Programme promotion de la Femme. Quelques heures plus tard, elles apprenaient que leur demande venait d’être approuvée. Voici le message annonciateur de la bonne nouvelle que nous avons reçu par la suite.
 
Sandra Trottier
Pour la FFQ
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
English follows French:

Bonjour!

L’Association nationale Femmes et droit vient tout juste d’apprendre que
notre demande de financement a été approuvée, vendredi, le 22 septembre
2006! Hier, l'AFAI (FAFIA) recevait confirmation que sa demande était
également approuvée par la Ministre Oda! Nos deux organisations ont reçu une
confirmation écrite de la part de la Ministre. Nous sommes très heureuses de
cette nouvelle et nous tenons à remercier la Ministre pour l'attention
accordée à notre demande. Nous voulons également remercier toutes les
personnes et les organisations qui ont soutenu les démarches de l’ANFD et de
l'AFAI.

Dans les semaines et les mois qui suivent, nous interviendrons auprès de la
Ministre afin de nous assurer que les recommandations du Comité permanent de
la Condition féminine pour améliorer le Programme de promotion de la femme
soient mises en œuvre, et que de telles situations ne surviennent plus.

 Le Programme de promotion de la femme finance un grand nombre
d'organisations de femmes oeuvrant pour l'égalité au Canada et il est
essentiel que son rôle et son mandat soient maintenus pour que la survie des
groupes de femmes revendiquant l'égalité ne soit pas menacée.

 Merci encore pour votre soutien!
--------------------------------------------
Hello:

NAWL has just received word that its funding application was approved late
today, the 22nd of September 2006.   As many of you may know now, FAFIA's
application was approved by Minister Oda late on the 21st of September! We
are very pleased and wish to thank the Minister for her attention to this
application.  We also wish to thank everyone for their efforts thus far.  

 In the coming weeks and months, we must intervene to ensure that the
recommendations from the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status
of Women regarding improvements to the Women's Program at Status of Women
Canada are implemented.  This would help to prevent situations such as this
from occurring again.  

The Women's Program supports a large number of women's organizations
throughout Canada, and it is essential that its role and mandate be
maintained so that the survival of women's groups working for equality is
not threatened.  We expect an announcement from the Minister about the
Women's Program sometime soon.

Please continue to communicate with the Minister regarding the preservation
of the goals and guidelines of SWC's Women's Program by emailing
Beverely_Oda@pch.gc.ca. If you can, please c.c. your letters at
info@fafia-afai.org.

Thanks again for your support!

[webactivist]

Status of Women Canada Administrative
$5,000,000 CUT

Elimination of Court Challenges Program
$5,604,000 CUT

In English: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/media/nr-cp/2006/0925_e.asp
En français:  http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/media/nr-cp/2006/0925_f.asp

[webactivist]

Cons eliminate Court Challenges Program & Cut $5M from SWC


Conservatives make their mark on government spending with tough choices
http://www.680news.com/news/national/ar ... t=n092597A
September 25, 2006 - 19:15
By: JENNIFER DITCHBURN

OTTAWA (CP) - The Conservatives put their mark on government spending Monday with the announcement of $1 billion in cuts to programs they did not consider priorities, from funding to Canadian museums to research on the use of medical marijuana.



Some of the cuts, over two years, included:

-$4.6 million in assistance to museums.

-$5 million from Status of Women Canada.

-Elimination of the $4-million medical marijuana research program that tested the impact of pot on ill Canadians.

-Elimination of Law Commission of Canada.

-Elimination of $9.7 million in support to Canadian Volunteerism Initiative.

-Elimination of $10.8 million First Nations/Inuit tobacco control strategy.

[webactivist]

The overall budget at SWC is $24 million. The women's program absorbs almost $11 million (grants and contributions). That means the department functions on effectively $13 million, 5 million of which has just been cut over next 2 years.

The SWC department does the following: develops policy, champions and equips the government to do GBA, and has a research arm for which they provide $s for academics and organizations to do pertinent analysis. there is also an international function, as well as communications, and fed/provincial relations.  

The cut to SWC and the elimination of the Court Challenges Program, seriously undermine the Government's commitment to women's equality.

Here's the pinpoint URLs to Treasury Board site with info on the cuts in English and en français.

English: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/media/nr-cp/2006/0925_e.asp

En français:  http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/media/nr-cp/2006/0925_f.asp

[Toedancer]

The Court Challenges Program just boggles my mind. That is such a blow to advocacy groups who have no other means to correct and keep up with social changes.

I think the Fraser Institute suggested to abolish it about 3 or so years ago.
Part of the 'new agenda'.

[webactivist]

Press Release from FAFIA - the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action

Ottawa: FAFIA, a pan-Canadian alliance of women’s and human rights organizations, is denouncing the $5 million cut to the federal department of Status of Women over two years. These cuts will be taken from its modest annual budget of $13 million. The grants and contributions arm ($11 million) of the department was not affected.

“These cuts will critically affect the federal government’s own commitment to live up to its equality commitments to women,” said Shelagh Day, Co-Chair of the Canadian Feminist Alliance (FAFIA).

FAFIA is also dismayed by the elimination of the Court Challenges Program. “This Program has provided Canadian women with their only access to the use of their constitutional equality rights,” said Shelagh Day. “Equality rights have no meaning in Canada if women, and other Canadians who face discrimination, cannot use them.”

“Constitutional cases are too expensive for women to mount on their own. Without this test case fund, women simply do not have access to the courts when their rights are violated.”

During the last federal election campaign, Stephen Harper promised to “take concrete and immediate measures…to ensure that Canada fully upholds its commitments to women.” These cuts are not consistent with Mr. Harper’s election promise,” said Day

Status of Women Canada is responsible for equipping the federal government to conduct gender based analysis of all policies and programs. It also provides internal expertise on specific policy initiatives. The department’s budget is one of the smallest of any department at the federal level.

An Expert Panel on accountability mechanisms for gender equality, that made its report just before the last federal election, concluded that Status of Women Canada needed to be significantly strengthened in order to better perform its function as a watchdog for women’s equality. The cut to SWC ignores those crucial recommendations.

[sparqui]

I guess Real Women are dancing with glee over that budgetary slap to the Status of Women. Such a shame. For all her faults, Sheila Copps was a far more committed Minister of Canadian Heritage than Bev Oda. Copps would have fought hard to protect both Status of Women and Museums.

[fern hill]

What is really galling about these cuts is that they have the dough. What did I hear? Surplus of $13 billion? All of it going to pay down the debt. They can't even claim poverty. Just meanness and promise-keeping to their wackoid pals.

[fern hill]

What is really galling about these cuts is that they have the dough. What did I hear? Surplus of $13 billion? All of it going to pay down the debt. They can't even claim poverty. Just meanness and promise-keeping to their wackoid pals.

[skdadl]

I'm onside with all the principled outrage, but I am really looking hard for detailed information on studies and programs that SWC has supported, specific work that it has done. Generalizations are beginning to frustrate me because I can't write that way -- I just can't. And that kind of detail is the only thing that is going to convince critics or the undecided.

I take it that SWC will still be funding specific projects of specific groups? I'm a little confused about how that works -- it was my understanding that the Liberals, some years ago, stopped SWC from doing core funding, cut them back to funding projects only (one of the blows to NAC, eg). So on what basis are NAWL and FAFIA getting their funds? I'm not asking in order to criticize anything -- I'm just trying to get my head around the structures.

What has been cut is operational money for the department, yes/no? So can we have some talking points about what kind of work will stop because of those cuts?

Sorry to sound thick, but if the abstractions are going over my head, they are for sure not going to engage the public.

I get the stupidity and malignity of the elimination of the Court Challenges program.

[Boom Boom]

SWC has been a neocon target for years, so it came as no surprise to me that it's being cut off or downgraded. Unfortunate, but not a surprise. This is the neocon agenda - get rid of programs that to them have little or no value. This should be a wake-up call to the electorate: next time, don't vote the bastards in. If you hand the Cons a majority next time, then the country will change in ways we can't even imagine, although think of Mike Harris' Ontario and you'll get an idea.

[skdadl]

Maybe this thread could be combined with this one?

Otherwise, we're going to have the conversation scattered. I don't mind thread drift, but thread proliferation drives me nuts.